HISTORY
OF OAKLEY
Community
Overview City of Oakley
The
City of Oakley is in its infancy, though Oakley's bountiful agricultural
community has a rich and interesting history. Only an hour's drive
from San Francisco, Oakley is situated in East Contra Costa County
along the picturesque California Delta, a fishing and boating
paradise. Oakley's gently rolling hills are crisscrossed by country
lanes and patch-worked with vineyards and orchards---though new
schools and neighborhoods now share what was once a farming landscape.
The City's leadership is working to maintain Oakley's small town
character while strongly encouraging the development of new industries
to employ the growing local workforce.
In November of 1998, local voters approved Oakley's incorporation
and so created the City of Oakley, which became Contra Costa's
newest city on July 1, 1999. Oakley is dedicated to serving the
people, the land, the growth of industry with respect and commitment
to the family and the well being of economic investment.
The City of Oakley---a community looking both ways---back, in
honor of its agricultural roots and small town history, and ahead,
towards development and opportunity.
Vision
2007, the City of Oakley will be recognized as a model of civic
participation and a vibrant Delta community where families live,
work, shop and visit.
Mission
The City of Oakley exists to build and enhance a quality community
and to serve the public in a friendly, efficient, responsive manner.
More
Information About The City Of Oakley
One
of California's newest cities, the City of Oakley incorporated
in July 1999 in order to manage growth more gracefully and improve
law enforcement services through its own city police force. At
the time of this writing, the City is a little over two years
old and is hard at work realizing its vision. A small, dedicated
community-oriented police force is at work while the City Council
and its committees, commissions, and task forces are busy doing
their parts to make Oakley the city they envision.
The City of Oakley is situated in the eastern portion of Contra
Costa County, along the shore of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
near the cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, and Brentwood. Close to
the junction of Highways 4 and 160, with access to San Francisco,
the Silicon Valley, and the state capital at Sacramento, Oakley
is, in fact, equidistant from San Francisco and Sacramento-just
55 miles.
Oakley's motto, A Place for Families in the Heart of the Delta,
is manifest in many areas: the availability of affordable housing,
a focus on the quality of education evident in low student-to-teacher
ratios, and the proximity of numerous water recreation sites.
Oakley's population of approximately 27,000 can send their children
to one of four elementary schools, one of two middle schools,
and a new high school. Those same families in their leisure hours
can enjoy outings along the Delta waterways.
Today a landscape of gently rolling fields, orchards, and vineyards
gives us
a glimpse of Oakley's agricultural past. Each September thousands
of visitors come to Oakley for the annual Oakley Chamber of Commerce
Almond Festival, a celebration set firmly in the City's agricultural
history. The City of Oakley is the proposed home of the Delta
Science Center, a research, education, and restoration facility.
This Center would further enrich an already flourishing community
while helping to restore the Delta and providing valuable Delta
education and research data to scientific communities beyond Oakley's
borders. A once quiet rural Delta farming community has blossomed
into a city with plans for revitalizing its downtown and building
a new Civic Center while maintaining its small town charm.
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